McAfee Vs BullGuard | The Ultimate Guide [2020]

(Last updated on February 25th, 2020)

McAfee or BullGuard, which software is a better option in 2020?

Read this ultimate McAfee vs. BullGuard comparison to make a smart choice.

Where on the one hand, the rise of social media platforms and e-commerce has hugely contributed to users’ time spent on the internet. It has also given them a false sense of security that this digital world is a safe place.

We share a lot of personal information online on social media websites, e-stores, and through emails. All this information can easily land in the hands of the hackers if you don’t have premium protection.

These figures suggest that if we want to be safe in today’s digital environment, we need some robust antivirus protection. But try not to fall for a freeware.

Free antivirus software may provide you some protection against known viruses. But it can’t offer you complete protection against all kinds of malware and cyber threats. In fact, freeware is extremely inadequate against the latest malware technologies. Only premium software can provide complete peace of mind in the face of these threats.

Premium antivirus software comes packed with the advanced features that provide multi-level antimalware security from known as well as emerging threats.

Important Note

Best Antivirus Suite for 2020

(All the best security products examined)

Editors' Choice Award Winner

Overall Score: 9.9/10

SAVE 60%

00

Months

00

Days

00

Hours

00

Minutes

00

Seconds

Special discount ends in...

30-day money-back guarantee

During the past few months, we examined and reviewed over 50 antivirus suites from the biggest names in cybersecurity. We did this so you can confidently choose the best antivirus software to protect yourself and those you love. Overall, Bitdefender is our #1 antivirus software for 2020, because of its excellent, flawless performance in all the recent independent lab evaluations we considered, particularly those conducted by AV-Test and AV-Comparatives. Right now, we think that Bitdefender Total Security 2020 (currently at 60% off) is the best antivirus package available in the market. Apart from providing excellent anti-malware protection, it offers all the advanced premium features and utilities that must be there in a high-end package -- and best of all, it offers excellent value for money. You can protect up to five devices (PCs, Macs, or smartphones) with just one subscription. If you need protection for more than five devices, we highly recommend Bitdefender Family Pack 2020. It will cover all the internet-capable devices in your household with the Total Security suite, so your family will be protected no matter what goes wrong.

Here, we compare two top-ranking antivirus programs, McAfee and BullGuard. We’ll assess them on different security and design aspects and see which one provides better overall performance and higher value for money.

In a rush? Read a quick summary of our comparison below and find out the winners in each category.

A Quick Rundown of Winners in Each Category

1. FeaturesWinner: McAfee. McAfee’s straightforward approach with product design – all the features jammed into one product – makes it extremely attractive and suitable for every user.

2. Malware ProtectionWinner: McAfee. Both McAfee and BullGuard stood at par on the first independent test, but BullGuard didn’t participate in the second evaluation. So, McAfee is the winner here.

3. System PerformanceWinner: McAfee.McAfee did well in both evaluations. Whereas BullGuard was behind in one assessment and didn’t participate in the other.

4. User-FriendlinessWinner: BullGuard.BullGuard’s interface is much more functional and user-friendly compared to McAfee’s.

5. PricingWinner: McAfee. McAfee gives you far more value for money than BullGuard does. That’s why McAfee is the winner of this category, as well.

6. PopularityWinner: McAfee.McAfee is way more popular than BullGuard and holds a much more significant market share.

Short Verdict

BullGuard is competitive, but McAfee offers a more comprehensive feature-set and better malware protection with minimal impact on system performance. Also, McAfee offers better value for money than BullGuard.

Our recommendations: If you want to get the highest level of security and performance, there's no better choice than Bitdefender, which protects over 500 million devices worldwide. We have reviewed, ranked, and rated all the best antivirus software products out there, and we think that Bitdefender Total Security 2020 (currently at 50% off) is the best antivirus package you can buy right now. You can protect up to five devices (PCs, Macs, or smartphones) with just a single subscription of this suite. If you need protection for more than five devices, Bitdefender Family Pack 2020 is the best option for you. Looking for Mac-specific protection? Check out Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac for complete peace of mind.

Let’s get right into it now.

1. Features

Most antivirus companies these days pack their products with a host of different advanced features that add extra value to their product beyond malware protection. Let’s see what features we can find with McAfee and BullGuard.

We’ll start with McAfee.

McAfee Total Protection is the company’s best-selling product and comes with cutting-edge malware protection as well as all the advanced features of the modern antivirus programs.

A Firewall protects your devices from any cyber threats that may try to plant a virus on an application in your system. Other than the firewall, various features provide multi-layer protection for you.

A Network Shield provides real-time monitoring for your system and prevents any external users from connecting with it.

A Password Protector secures your login information and passwords while you’re on the internet.

Identity Protection is also part of this product. This function secures your personal and financial information so that the hackers can’t misuse it. In case of any issue, you also have 24/7 access to expert advice from the company.

Additionally, a Parental Control module saves your kids from any mishap on the internet. This module monitors their online activities, limits their access to certain websites or apps, as well as helps restrict their browsing time.

The feature also incorporates a tracking facility which you can use to be aware of your children’s whereabouts while they are away.

There’s also a File Encryption utility that keeps your private data and important information safe from hackers and phishing websites.

The software also comes with Performance Enhancing Tools that boost your system performance by cleaning off any junk files, shredding deleted data, and organizing temporary files.

Next, we have BullGuard Internet Security. This suite comes with multi-platform compatibility for PCs, Macs, and Android devices, and protects 3 devices at a time. Along with everything, this suite also adds some additional features to the mix:

An advanced firewall provides real-time protection, so you’re safe against any external threats.

A parental control suite keeps a check on your children’s online habits and restricts their access to unwanted content, so they are safe on the internet.

You also get the cloud-integrated backup facility for your sensitive data with this suite, as well as some neat PC tune-up features.

BullGuard Premium Protection is the final tier of protection from the company. Along with everything from previous packages, this product provides some extra security features such as:

The smart network scanner that detects any loopholes in the network security and fixes them for you.

Identity protection is also part of the product. This feature keeps your personal and financial information safe from misuse while you’re shopping or banking online. The software immediately notifies you if it suspects somebody is impersonating you.

Both Internet Security and Premium Protection products include free 24/7 live chat support as well as regular updates to keep your program up to date with the emerging malware threats.

Interested in BullGuard’s business antivirus?Click here for more information.

Winner: McAfee. McAfee has all its advanced features packed into one product, which makes it equally ideal for use by both individuals and families.

2. Malware Protection

An ideal antivirus software should have all the advanced features required to offer defense against the old as well as emerging malware types. Let’s compare our companies to find out which one does a better job of providing real-time protection.

Let’s first look at the Protection Test results from the AV-Test Institute as of their August 2019 assessment. In this test, McAfee notched the perfect 6 out of 6 score.

Now we’ll turn to AV-Comparatives for their most recent Real-World Protection Test results. In this test, McAfee was only able to make the STANDARD award. Whereas, BullGuard didn’t participate in this assessment.

We are also going to look at Malware Protection Test from AV-Comparatives. As per their March 2019 results, McAfee secured the ADVANCED award while BullGuard wasn’t part of this test as well.

Winner: McAfee. Both companies did well on the first independent test, but BullGuard skipped the second and third tests.

3. System Performance

Nobody wants a software that drags system speed and prevents it from functioning efficiently. That’s why we are going to examine the impact of our brands on system performance and make sure they don’t cause drags.

For this assessment, we’ll again turn to our two testing companies, AV-Test and AV-Comparatives.

The Performance Test from AV-Test.org rewarded McAfee with the amazing 6 out of 6 score, once again.

However, BullGuard fell slightly behind this time with a 5.5 out of 6.

Now, let’s check out the Performance Test results from AV-Comparatives. Here as well, McAfee did a superb job and bagged the highest ADVANCED+ award.

Once again, BullGuard did not appear for this evaluation.

Winner: McAfee. McAfee did well on both tests. Whereas, BullGuard was a little behind in one assessment and absent from the other.

4. User-Friendliness

The user interface plays a vital role in painting a positive or negative picture of a brand in the user’s mind. Let’s take a look at both companies’ user interfaces to find out which one paints a better picture in this category.

McAfee uses dark grey and white colors to distinguish two different portions of the interface. The left-hand side contains a dark-grey rail to show system security status. On the right-hand side, a wide panel displays many functions to make them readily accessible from the Home screen, of which there are only two: ‘Virus Scan’ and ‘Remove Cookies and Trackers.’

On the top of the screen, a horizontal bar gives access to different functions and features. Overall, the interface is quite easy-to-navigate, but McAfee seemed to have focused on the simplicity of the design.

Now we’ll turn our attention to the BullGuard interface.

BullGuard interface is mostly white and uses light grey as the accent color. Big rectangular blocks take up the entire screen and give access to different features and functions, such as antivirus, firewall, backup, PC tune-up, parental controls, etc.

Each block also contains drop-down menus to access settings for that specific function. Overall, the interface is simplistic, as well as easy to understand and navigate.

Winner: BullGuard:The Home screen of McAfee Interface doesn’t provide much information, which is why you have to access individual functions for updates. Whereas, with BullGuard, all the updates are available on the Home screen.

5. Pricing

Apart from technical performance, pricing is probably the single most crucial aspect that can prove to be decisive in a purchase decision. Let’s see how carefully both McAfee and BullGuard price their products.

McAfee probably has the most attractive pricing policy out there. McAfee Total Protection comes at the cost of $24.99 per year for one license. You can get more licenses of this suite for a little additional charge depending on how many licenses you require.

5 more licenses will cost you $39.99 per year, whereas if you were to buy 10 licenses, they’d cost you $44.99 per year. So, the more licenses you get, the less you have to pay. For instance, for 10 licenses, the cost will break down to only $4.5 per license.

Winner: McAfee.It is obvious from the pricing comparison above that McAfee gives you more value for your money. BullGuard costs more per license, charging you almost double for 10 licenses ($99.95) compared to McAfee ($44.99).

6. Popularity

Finally, let’s see which company does better on the popularity scale. For which we’ll turn to OPSWALT, a popular website that regularly issues reports on the market share occupied by the top security products.

Their recent report came out in August 2019. Here, McAfee takes the second position among the most popular antivirus products in 2019, whereas BullGuard isn’t even listed among the top 10 products.

Winner: McAfee.McAfee is clearly much more popular and holds a significantly bigger share of the market compared to BullGuard.

Final Thoughts

We’ve seen that McAfee wins out in almost all categories. McAfee particularly stands out in the following areas: product features and design, malware protection, system performance, pricing, and popularity. The one area it needs to focus more attention on is the user interface. So, based on our findings, we declare McAfee as the winner of today’s comparison.

Get Bitdefender at 60% off today

00

Months

00

Days

00

Hours

00

Minutes

00

Seconds

Overall Score: 9.9/10

Special offer ends in ...

Editors Choice Award Winner

Our recommendations: After reviewing 50 antivirus suites from some of the biggest names in the cybersecurity realm, we believe that Bitdefender Total Security 2020 (currently at 60% off) is the best antivirus suite for 2020 in terms of value for money. You protect up to five devices (PCs, Macs, and smartphones) with a single license of this suite. Got more than five internet-capable devices? We found that Bitdefender Family Pack 2020 is the best option out there in terms of value for money. If you are still unsure, Bitdefender offers a 30-day money-back guarantee and exceptional customer support, so you there is nothing to lose.

Post navigation

About The Author

Umair Anwar is an experienced freelance writer and founder of Proficient Blogging. He loves to conduct objective research and specializes in writing comprehensive software reviews and comparisons so people can make well-informed decisions. He usually talks about antivirus, VPN, online privacy, and other cybersecurity-related topics.

FTC Disclosure: Our editors maintain strict editorial integrity and review products independently, but we may earn a small commission if you buy through our links (at no extra cost to you). This helps pay our bills and make this website a free service for everyone.

Best VPN for 2020

If you're looking for a solid VPN, NordVPN & ExpressVPN are our top recommendations. Click the button below to get a special discount on any of these products.

Best VPN for 2020 ➤

Get Bitdefender at 60% OFF

Don't rely on low-end, incomplete antivirus software when your security is at stake.

Protect yourself and your loved ones with the best antivirus software available. Act now to save an amazing 60% off the regular price.